Debt Dumpers - 2017

[momto4obkids]

Didn't know that about K-Cups.. do you get those through their web site?

That reminds me, I have to hit the grocery store sometime today.. we get low on food and its EAT OUT time.. i did balk at going to OUTBACK on Friday night as well as TACO MAC last night.

You can get them at Walmart and Target here is a link to the what walmart has. They have them in store also. I have the first one in the list, I get my folgers big tub and fill it up, it saves a lot of money!

https://www.walmart.com/search/?query=k-cup reusable&typeahead=k cup reus

 

[mco65]

Spent ~$75 at the grocery store yesterday coupled with $30 in gas.. and my checking account is sub $100 and I am a week a way from payday (1st). I have a savings buffer that will automatically transfer funds over if i go under so that's no worry but still. Typically i get closer to payday before i go under 100... so i go back and look at my account and see that i have spent $350 eating out... the last 9 days.. #$@#! I know i spend a lot of $ eating out.. but that is a real eye opener... I got to learn how to cook or something.. I am thinking that every time i think, lets go out and eat that instead, i head to Publix and gets something easy and cheaper.. ie.. fried or rotisserie chicken.. rolls, potato salad.. etc.. I have done that a few times but obviously NOT ENOUGH..

 

[Eoywin]

I work part time and I'm on partial disability because of chronic migraines. I'm really lucky because I can call in when I need to. The sucky part is of course I don't get paid when I don't work.

This year has been up and down already. We had a huge dumping of snow a few weeks ago that caused me to be very sick for a few days. This past weekend, we had tons of rain and thunderstorms which also made me sick. Sadly there isn't much I can do - I'm on meds but they don't help much, especially with weather pressure.

But I'm still trucking away - thankfully my husband has a very good job and he tends to be able to work overtime. He has some health problems too but nothing like mine. The new washer is working great so far.

I'm trying to pay down my credit card bills - we are hoping to pay off a few credit cards with my husband's bonus and our tax refund.

 

[DisneyMandC]

I work part time and I'm on partial disability because of chronic migraines. I'm really lucky because I can call in when I need to. The sucky part is of course I don't get paid when I don't work.

This year has been up and down already. We had a huge dumping of snow a few weeks ago that caused me to be very sick for a few days. This past weekend, we had tons of rain and thunderstorms which also made me sick. Sadly there isn't much I can do - I'm on meds but they don't help much, especially with weather pressure.

But I'm still trucking away - thankfully my husband has a very good job and he tends to be able to work overtime. He has some health problems too but nothing like mine. The new washer is working great so far.

I'm trying to pay down my credit card bills - we are hoping to pay off a few credit cards with my husband's bonus and our tax refund.

You must live near me with the weather you're having. Hope you're feeling better, I know it's going to be milder here, just cold, for the next couple weeks.

I finally got one of my W2s yesterday for the job I worked the first 6 months of the year. Of course I forgot that you can't deduct student loan interest when you're married filing separately, which literally makes zero sense to me, but whatever. I plugged in my W2 and and mortgage interest into Turbotax last night and so far it shows me getting a refund. I suspect I will still be in good shape when my second W2 comes in because my income went down and I withheld at the highest rate in anticipation of us filing separate this year.

 

[Eoywin]

You must live near me with the weather you're having. Hope you're feeling better, I know it's going to be milder here, just cold, for the next couple weeks.

I finally got one of my W2s yesterday for the job I worked the first 6 months of the year. Of course I forgot that you can't deduct student loan interest when you're married filing separately, which literally makes zero sense to me, but whatever. I plugged in my W2 and and mortgage interest into Turbotax last night and so far it shows me getting a refund. I suspect I will still be in good shape when my second W2 comes in because my income went down and I withheld at the highest rate in anticipation of us filing separate this year.

I'm in WNC - thankfully it should be better. I honestly am really hoping for no more snow this winter.

I need to print out my W2 information so my husband can finish the taxes. He's grumpy that we can't file until Feb. 15th - we always file right away.

 

[Dentam]

Well, it turns out I won't be getting a refund this year. Forgot you have to pay tax on the previous year's refund plus my income has gone up, especially due to not having the house expenses to deduct. Oh well - looks like I'll owe a little over $100 so it could be worse. I was just really hoping to have a good chunk to pay off a cc. As it is now, I'll have to wait until March to do that since I get three paychecks that month.

 

[yupikgal]

Got my first paycheck and no pay raise in it, and they were off by 4 hours somehow!

But still on target to pay off our car in February.

AND I finally made a GOOD financial decision. A work trip to Seattle which is where I grew up came up for February. Immediately I wanted to turn that into a week long family trip, which spiraled up to $1500 (which is cheap for a week long family trip, for sure!) but we just don't have that $$. Last year, I would have booked it and "figured it out" later, but this time we said that we just can't swing it this time. Instead focusing on December 2019 - debt free date!! If I can just stay on track, we'll have a LOT more freed up $$ to plan trips, I'll be able to work part-time if I want to and spend more time with the kids, etc. It seems so far away, but I wish that 3 years ago I would have made the changes and we'd be at that place now, so I'm really hoping to be good.

I still get to go on the work trip, though, and will be staying with relatives 2 extra nights, costing me nothing but giving me a chance to see some friends/family and some old sights!

You don't know how many times I've been tempted to book a trip, sometimes I will just start figuring out airline schedules, look at hotel rates, etc. then realize that is how we got to where we are now, a lot of the bigger charges were from past trips! Have to start being more sensible at some point, which I have since last summer, so we are slowly getting out of the never ending debt cycle, we are still really at the beginning stages since I only started working full time in October, and with the holidays & some medical costs, and now my car got towed yesterday (still don't know what the issue is, they are supposed to look at it today) we may be set back a little bit, but I'm hanging in there and reading this thread and participating will keep me on track!! I refuse to give up, I want to be able to plan trips again with no hesitation!! I don't think we are going anywhere outside of our state until my husband retires in 4 years, but at least we will be debt free! I'm already planning a retirement trip!!

 

[potterfanatic]

I will admit I haven't read this whole thread, so if I missed this somewhere, sorry for the repeat question. I am considering applying for a personal loan to help pay off my debt. Has anyone done this? If so did it help? I currently have 2 credit cards that have almost 19% interest and my bank is offering 11% interest on personal loans. I feel like this would help me pay off the debt faster, but for some reason I feel hesitant.

 

[bcwife76]

I haven't really posted in this years edition of debt dumpers but I've been reading and catching up. I'm so sorry for your loss @dayvewc

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

I will admit I haven't read this whole thread, so if I missed this somewhere, sorry for the repeat question. I am considering applying for a personal loan to help pay off my debt. Has anyone done this? If so did it help? I currently have 2 credit cards that have almost 19% interest and my bank is offering 11% interest on personal loans. I feel like this would help me pay off the debt faster, but for some reason I feel hesitant.

I would say the only reason to be hesitant about paying off your credit card debt with a personal loan at a lower interest rate would be: will you just run up charges on your card again and be in a similar or worse position? If your spending habits don't change, then debt dumping becomes near impossible because you are still living beyond your means.

But if you think that you have made the necessary adjustments to ensure you don't just run up the cards again, then moving that debt from 19% to 11% could be a very good move.

ETA: And depending on the amount of debt, another option to consider is opening another credit card with a long 0% APR (15+ months) and throwing as much money as you can at the debt. And then at the end of that period, you could consider taking out a personal loan to pay off the card.

 

[mco65]

I will admit I haven't read this whole thread, so if I missed this somewhere, sorry for the repeat question. I am considering applying for a personal loan to help pay off my debt. Has anyone done this? If so did it help? I currently have 2 credit cards that have almost 19% interest and my bank is offering 11% interest on personal loans. I feel like this would help me pay off the debt faster, but for some reason I feel hesitant.

Done this and it helped initially but eventually.. my credit cards would go back up and i had a personal loan to boot..

I think that if you have put in a good 6 months to a years work towards paying off your credit card (ie. paying off credit card, not adding new charges)... if you have mastered the art of NO MORE CREDIT CARD CHARGES.. if you are disciplined enough then it might be a good idea.. i would NOT do it if i had just decided last week to pay off my credit cards and i was just getting started on my journey... you need to develop some good spending habits before taking out the loan.. JMO!

 

[Deffenm]

Spent ~$75 at the grocery store yesterday coupled with $30 in gas.. and my checking account is sub $100 and I am a week a way from payday (1st). I have a savings buffer that will automatically transfer funds over if i go under so that's no worry but still. Typically i get closer to payday before i go under 100... so i go back and look at my account and see that i have spent $350 eating out... the last 9 days.. #$@#! I know i spend a lot of $ eating out.. but that is a real eye opener... I got to learn how to cook or something.. I am thinking that every time i think, lets go out and eat that instead, i head to Publix and gets something easy and cheaper.. ie.. fried or rotisserie chicken.. rolls, potato salad.. etc.. I have done that a few times but obviously NOT ENOUGH..

I hear you about eating out, especially when you are a family of 5 (3 teenagers)! We decided to see if we could go a whole month without eating out. So far we have not gone out to eat at all this month and I have an "extra" $800 that I wouldn't normally because we would have eaten out. I hate grocery shopping and I am not the best cook so this was a personal challenge for me. Luckily my crock pot is becoming my best friend especially on those nights when we have soccer, volleyball, and track. My plan on Saturday mornings is to inventory fridge, freezer, and cabinets then I look at grocery store ads to see who has the cheapest price for what I need. I also load coupons to my shopper card or paper coupons for those items that we NEED. I plan my menu for the week and then hit the stores and buy only what is on my list. As you can see the other issue for me is the grocery budget. In addition to eating out I would also spend almost $1k at the grocery store. My other challenge to myself was to only spend $600 for groceries and gas. This includes everything paper, cleaning products, etc. I have $65 to last me until Feb. 1st. It is going to be tight but I am trying my best. I asked my family if they missed eating out and they all said no not at all. Of course it is more work on me but I do throw in a few "free for all" nights to give myself a break and my in-laws invite us over at least twice a month so it is like going out to eat for me. If everything goes as plan I should be able to fund my Emergency Fund of $1k here in Jan. and then start tackling the debt in Feb.

 

[Imagineer5]

You don't know how many times I've been tempted to book a trip, sometimes I will just start figuring out airline schedules, look at hotel rates, etc. then realize that is how we got to where we are now, a lot of the bigger charges were from past trips! Have to start being more sensible at some point, which I have since last summer, so we are slowly getting out of the never ending debt cycle, we are still really at the beginning stages since I only started working full time in October, and with the holidays & some medical costs, and now my car got towed yesterday (still don't know what the issue is, they are supposed to look at it today) we may be set back a little bit, but I'm hanging in there and reading this thread and participating will keep me on track!! I refuse to give up, I want to be able to plan trips again with no hesitation!! I don't think we are going anywhere outside of our state until my husband retires in 4 years, but at least we will be debt free! I'm already planning a retirement trip!!

Congratulations on getting in that mind-set!! I am attempting to stick to 2 CHEAP Disney trips per year, I have it down pretty well to do about 2000 or so for 1 trip, and for my own sanity I need that. But yes, the BIG trips have been huge purchases, that have sat on CC's and put us further in debt, so I am nixing all of them until we pay it off. 3 years from April I am planning 9K to celebrate paying everything off (Payoff date is December 2019, and I am happy to say after 2 months of it being 12/19 it hasn't gotten pushed back lol!). We are going to do a Disney cruise for youngest's 3rd birthday. After that the world is at my fingertips!!

I will admit I haven't read this whole thread, so if I missed this somewhere, sorry for the repeat question. I am considering applying for a personal loan to help pay off my debt. Has anyone done this? If so did it help? I currently have 2 credit cards that have almost 19% interest and my bank is offering 11% interest on personal loans. I feel like this would help me pay off the debt faster, but for some reason I feel hesitant.

I did that. And it wasn't all terrible or all great. I consolidated our CC's into one big loan. It is nice just paying that 1 loan payment, but man, it has the highest interest rate of any of my debt now so it is the #1 thing I am tackling. As others have said, if you can be sure you will NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES rack up your CC's again, then it is a good idea. Otherwise, I would maybe look into other options (O interest cards? Or just paying the low balances off as you can?

 

[Dentam]

I've looked into consolidation loans but the interest rates are about the same as the two cc's that I am paying interest on. All of my other cc's have 0% interest so it doesn't really make sense for me. It would definitely be nice to have one payment rather than juggling several though.

 

[mco65]

I hear you about eating out, especially when you are a family of 5 (3 teenagers)! We decided to see if we could go a whole month without eating out. So far we have not gone out to eat at all this month and I have an "extra" $800 that I wouldn't normally because we would have eaten out. I hate grocery shopping and I am not the best cook so this was a personal challenge for me. Luckily my crock pot is becoming my best friend especially on those nights when we have soccer, volleyball, and track. My plan on Saturday mornings is to inventory fridge, freezer, and cabinets then I look at grocery store ads to see who has the cheapest price for what I need. I also load coupons to my shopper card or paper coupons for those items that we NEED. I plan my menu for the week and then hit the stores and buy only what is on my list. As you can see the other issue for me is the grocery budget. In addition to eating out I would also spend almost $1k at the grocery store. My other challenge to myself was to only spend $600 for groceries and gas. This includes everything paper, cleaning products, etc. I have $65 to last me until Feb. 1st. It is going to be tight but I am trying my best. I asked my family if they missed eating out and they all said no not at all. Of course it is more work on me but I do throw in a few "free for all" nights to give myself a break and my in-laws invite us over at least twice a month so it is like going out to eat for me. If everything goes as plan I should be able to fund my Emergency Fund of $1k here in Jan. and then start tackling the debt in Feb.

Awesome.. not sure we could go a entire MONTH without eating out.. maybe but i bet the kids would be screaming..

 

[Tygerlilly]

Well, so far we haven't eaten out at all in almost two weeks (with the exception of one planned friends get together). I've also packed my breakfast/lunch on my work days for two weekends now. I figured out I was spending about $8 a day to eat iffy tasting food. Now I packed a few toaster strudels and a PB&J and for about $8, I get a full week of lunches, if not more.

Also, I'm making my grocery list for the two weeks. Our favorite sausages from Aldi are on sale this week, so I plan on stocking up the freezer with them.

 

[potterfanatic]

Thanks everyone. I think I will give sticking to my budget a couple more months and see how it goes. I have been doing a good job with it, but I don't want to just end up in more trouble.

 

[kleph]

Well, it turns out I won't be getting a refund this year. Forgot you have to pay tax on the previous year's refund plus my income has gone up, especially due to not having the house expenses to deduct. Oh well - looks like I'll owe a little over $100 so it could be worse. I was just really hoping to have a good chunk to pay off a cc. As it is now, I'll have to wait until March to do that since I get three paychecks that month.

this might seem paltry but you've really done this about perfect. we get used to thinking of the tax refund as a bonus and it isn't. when you get a refund that means the government has held money you have earned through the year and not given you the ability to choose what to do with it until now. (in fairness, they'll also give you the option to pay stuff back without interest if you get whalloped with a big tax bill).

getting your taxes within $100 is really hard to beat. you got almost all the money you made this year in your paychecks and were able to put it where you wanted to put it as they came in. good job.

 

[Dentam]

this might seem paltry but you've really done this about perfect. we get used to thinking of the tax refund as a bonus and it isn't. when you get a refund that means the government has held money you have earned through the year and not given you the ability to choose what to do with it until now. (in fairness, they'll also give you the option to pay stuff back without interest if you get whalloped with a big tax bill).

getting your taxes within $100 is really hard to beat. you got almost all the money you made this year is your paychecks and were able to put it where you wanted to put it as they came in. good job.

Yep, you're right. It's just a bit of a bummer since I got about $1,500 back last year - I know it was an interest free loan to the government, but it was a nice chunk to get back!

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

Yep, you're right. It's just a bit of a bummer since I got about $1,500 back last year - I know it was an interest free loan to the government, but it was a nice chunk to get back!

It is a very hard mindset to get into because it feels like a surprise gift almost. But knowing that $2400 could have been another $200 in my paycheck each month to decide want I needed makes me feel better. If I had an unexpected expense, that $200 is probably better for me now, rather than 11 months from now.